Ronald J. Riccio received his B.A. degree cum laude from Seton Hall University in 1968 and Juris Doctorate degree from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1971, where he was a member of the school’s first public Law Review. Following a judicial clerkship with The Honorable Lawrence A. Whipple, United States District Court Judge, he began a sixteen year career in private practice as a litigator, during which time he successfully represented plaintiffs and defendants in a number of major trial and appellate matters. He returned to his alma mater in 1988 when he was appointed Dean of Seton Hall University School of Law. He successfully served as Dean for eleven years, during which time he also taught Civil Procedure and Constitutional Law.

Dean Emeritus Riccio is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York as well as before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second and Third Circuits and before the United States Supreme Court. He successfully represented the New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association before the United States Supreme Court in their efforts to legalize sports betting at Monmouth Park Racetrack.  New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association, Inc., Petitioner v. National Collegiate Athletic Association, et al. (No. 16-476 and 16-477) (May 14, 2018).

Dean Emeritus Riccio is a founding member of the New Jersey Commission on Professionalism, a former member of the New Jersey Domestic Security Preparedness Task Force, and immediate past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Monmouth Medical Center. He is a Lifetime Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

He has received numerous awards, including the New Jersey State Bar Foundation Medal of Honor, the Essex County Bar Foundation Person of the Year, top 100 New Jersey Business People by New Jersey Business News, Ann Klein Advocate Award for the Disabled, B’nai Birth Humanitarian Award of Excellence, Saint Thomas More Medal of Honor, ACLU of New Jersey Roger N. Baldwin Civil Liberties Award, and the Columbian Foundation’s Achievement and Humanitarian Award. He has also been listed in Super Lawyers® (2005-2018), a Thomson Reuters business, in the areas of General Litigation, Appellate, and Alternative Dispute Resolution. A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolade is based can be found here (No aspect of the advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court).  Mr. Riccio has also been listed in Best Lawyers® (2008-2018), a Woodward/White, Inc. business and partners with U.S. News & World Report, in the area of Appellate Practice. A description of the standard or methodology on which the accolade is based can be found here (No aspect of the advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court).  

He was named as Newark's 2015 Appellate Practice "Lawyer of the Year".  He was honored as Seton Hall Law's 2016 Distinguished Graduate, received the 2016 Saiber Professional Achievement Award, and was chosen by the New Jersey Law Journal as the 2016 Attorney of the Year.

As a Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law School, Dean Emeritus Riccio has taught Constitutional Law, Comparative Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Business Associations, and Introduction to Lawyering. He has been voted Professor of the Year five times by the student body and is a past recipient of the Andrea Catania Fellowship for Excellence In Teaching. He has been a lecturer for the New Jersey Law Journal’s annual review of New Jersey Civil Law